


What Happened after Michael met the Cardassians

by Persiflage



Series: Kissing Prompts [4]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, First Kiss, Kissing, Michael Burnham Needs a Hug, Michael Burnham is a Badass, Michael Using Her Xenoanthropology Skills, POV Character of Color, Pre-Canon, Shenzhou Era, Spooning, recovering from trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 01:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19074598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: Pre-canon angst with a happy ending: Michael and Philippa's first kiss.





	What Happened after Michael met the Cardassians

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my 25 Kissing Prompts self-challenge, for the prompt: _bringing up their hands to cup the other person’s face while kissing_

Michael sighs when Philippa’s lips press against hers, and she slips her arms around her Captain, grateful for her presence. 

“I missed you,” she murmurs against Philippa’s mouth.

“I missed you more.” Michael doubts that, but doesn’t bother to argue – it doesn’t really matter who had missed the other more. What matters is that they are together again after weeks of Michael’s absence, spent locked up by the Cardassians.

She sighs when Philippa’s hands come up to cup her face as she deepens the kiss. 

After a minute or so, Philippa pulls back. “Are you okay?” she asks.

Michael nods. “Yes. Sorry. I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed right now.”

Philippa drops her hands from Michael’s face and slides her arms around her instead. “It’ll take you some time to adjust, love.” She presses her forehead against Michael’s. “I talked to Katrina and she’s on her way to meet us. Primarily so she can debrief you on your stay with the Cardassians.”

“Primarily?” Michael asks, confused.

“Admiral Cornwell is also a therapist.” Philippa says it gently, as if she’s worried Michael will react badly.

“Oh,” she says, sighing softly. “Good.”

“You seem relieved.” 

“I am,” Michael says firmly. “I know I need to talk to someone about being held prisoner by the Cardassians, and I didn’t want to put it all on you as my Captain or my friend. Or my more-than-a-friend.” She can feel herself blushing at this, but she’s hesitant to use the word ‘lover’ since all they’re done so far is kiss – she literally only got back to the _Shenzhou_ a few hours ago, and has spent most of that time in sickbay being treated for her injuries. She’s barely begun to process the fact that she and Philippa are now on kissing terms.

“You can talk to me,” Philippa says. “Anytime. About anything.”

“Thank you,” Michael says, and briefly presses her lips to Philippa’s. “I appreciate that, truly. I will talk to you, I promise. But I do think talking to the Admiral is a good idea.”

Philippa nods. “What would you like to do for now?”

“Could we just lie on the bed and cuddle?” Michael asks tentatively. 

“Of course.” Philippa pulls back, then takes Michael’s hand and leads her over to the bed. They pull off their boots and uniform jackets, then settle on the bed together, lying on their sides facing each other. Philippa slides her arms around Michael and draws her closer, and she gratefully wraps her arms around her Captain.

“Will you tell me how you managed to escape?”

Michael huffs a laugh. “You’ve been dying to ask me that, haven’t you?”

Philippa smiles. “Yes. I mean, I assume it involved you being very clever?”

She blushes. “It was mostly that the Cardassians never conceived of the idea that a Human could understand their language. So they talked openly in front of me, letting fall all sorts of useful information right in front of their prisoner. I basically just used their technology against them, then knocked out my two guards, before fleeing in a borrowed shuttle.”

“You knocked out your two guards?” Philippa asks, sounding thoroughly shocked. “Cardassians, on average, are at least six inches taller than you. And bulkier with it.”

Michael smirks. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Plus, it didn’t occur to them that a ‘weak Human female’ would actually have the first idea about how to fight someone bigger than her.” She shakes her head. “They really didn’t know what they were getting when they captured me.”

Philippa presses a kiss to her lips. “I’m so glad you got away more or less safely.”

“Me too.” Michael pulls a hand from Philippa’s back to stifle a yawn. “Sorry,” she murmurs.

“Sleep, if you need to. I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

“Promise?” Michael asks, feeling a little foolish for asking, but needing the reassurance.

Philippa cups her face in both hands again. “I promise you, Michael Burnham, that you won’t wake up alone.” She presses another kiss to Michael’s lips, then rubs their noses together. “Do you want to spoon?”

Michael raises an eyebrow at the unfamiliar concept. “I don’t know what that is.”

“It means two people sleeping on their sides, one person’s back against the other’s chest, and the person at the back wraps their arms around the person in front. A lot of people find it very comforting.”

“I wouldn’t mind trying that,” Michael agrees.

“Okay. You turn and face away from me, so that you’re the little spoon, and I’ll cuddle you from behind as the big spoon.”

She can’t help huffing a laugh at that, but she turns onto her right side, then sighs in pleasure when Philippa settles right behind her, pulling Michael’s back tight against her chest. The Captain wraps her arms around Michael, and nuzzles the side of her neck briefly.

“I’ve got you, Michael. You’re safe here.”

She doesn’t know just how Philippa knows she needs to hear those words, but she’s beyond grateful that she does, and Michael feels herself relaxing into the warmth of Philippa’s embrace. Her eyes close, but she opens them again. Then they close a second time and this time she exhales steadily, deliberately slowing down her breathing and her thoughts.

“I’ve got you,” the Captain repeats and Michael feels herself sinking into sleep, knowing that she’s finally safe.

* * * *

The following day, around the middle of the afternoon, Saru comms to let them know that the Admiral’s arrived and is asking for permission to bring her shuttle aboard. Philippa agrees immediately, and Michael gets up from where she’s been lying on the couch in the Captain’s Ready Room, tidying up her uniform and pulling on her boots. Then she and Philippa take a turbolift to the shuttlebay to greet the Admiral. 

She’s taller than Michael expected, with short dark hair in a straightforward cut, and has a somewhat stern expression that Michael finds intimidating, but then she sees Philippa, and the Admiral’s smile at the sight of the Captain really transforms her face. Michael stands with her hands clasped behind her back, watching in silence as the two greet each other with a hug and kisses to the cheek. Then Philippa half turns and beckons Michael forward.

“Kat, this is Michael Burnham, my First Officer. Michael, this is Admiral Katrina Cornwell, one of my oldest friends from my Academy days.”

“Pleased to meet you, Admiral,” Michael says, holding out her hand.

“It’s good to meet you, Commander,” the Admiral says, with a firm handshake. 

Up close, Michael can see there’s now a kindly expression on the Admiral’s face, and she finds herself relaxing a little in response. 

“Do you want to go to your quarters first, or shall we adjourn to my Ready Room?” Philippa asks. 

“Your Ready Room, Philippa,” the Admiral says with a note of apology in her voice as she explains, “Command is desperate for detailed information on the Cardassians. I’m afraid I need to get your debrief out of the way as soon as possible, Commander.”

“I understand,” Michael says. 

Once they’re in Philippa’s Ready Room, they sit down around her conference table with cups of tea, or coffee in the Admiral’s case, and she sets a Padd down in front of her.

“I’m going to record this conversation, if that’s okay with you, Commander.”

“Of course,” Michael says. “Please call me Michael.”

She nods. “Thank you, Michael. Call me Katrina.”

Michael nods back, then takes a sip of her tea. She does her best to relax, then feels Philippa’s hand on her leg beneath the table. She’s startled at first until she realises that the Captain’s trying to relax her, and she drops her left hand and places it over Philippa’s hand. She immediately rotates her wrist and laces her fingers with Michael’s, and she squeezes Michael’s fingers comfortingly.

She drinks some more of her tea, then Katrina begins asking questions, and Michael does her best to give her detailed answers.

* * * *

By the time Katrina’s finished, Michael feels finished too. She feels exhausted and jittery, just as she had during those first few days in the Cardassians’ custody, and it’s unpleasant to be reminded of how helpless she’d felt.

“You should go and get some rest, Michael,” Katrina suggests.

Michael nods, and glances at Philippa, who immediately says, “I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you,” Michael murmurs. She sees Katrina’s expression and can tell that the Admiral senses there’s something else going on, but she hasn’t yet figured out what. “I’ll see you for dinner, Admiral.”

Katrina nods, and Michael can feel her eyes on her back as she and Philippa walk out.

“I believe the Admiral is going to work out that we’re together in very short order,” Michael says as she and Philippa enter the turbolift.

The Captain snorts. “Of course she is. She’s a smart woman.”

Michael nods. “Are we going to be in trouble?”

“I don’t think so. I suspect, knowing Katrina, that she’ll actually approve. She already likes you.”

She’s relieved when Philippa takes her to her quarters, rather than Michael’s own. Right now she’d much rather sleep in Philippa’s bed, even alone, than sleep in her own.

The Captain hugs her fiercely, then kisses her, and Michael kisses her back, then smiles into the kiss when Philippa’s hands move to cup her face.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” the Captain promises. 

“I know,” Michael says. She reaches up to cup Philippa’s face and kisses her back. “Go and talk to Katrina. Catch up with your friend. Find out the gossip.”

Philippa chuckles at that last comment, then presses her lips to Michael’s brow. “Rest,” she says softly. “Sleep if you can.”

Michael nods. “That’s my plan.” She pulls off her boots, then her uniform pants and jacket, and slips under the covers. Philippa gives her one last, brief kiss, then lets herself out and Michael closes her eyes. She feels better for having talked Katrina (and Philippa) through her misadventures with the Cardassians, and she’s grateful that sleep comes easily this once. Her final thought before succumbing to sleep is that she likes Katrina Cornwell.


End file.
